Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I took inspiration for this cross from a photo of one by “Crazy
Mom Tats!” at http://psychotatter.blogspot.com/2010/05/tatting-and-pain.html.
She used Mary Konior's Large Cross pattern from “Tatting with Visual Patterns.”
I made up my own pattern by looking at the picture, and made a few changes. I
do think “Crazy Mom’s” cross is much prettier and more symmetrical.

Now is a great time to talk about finishing off tatted
pieces, because I was practicing on this cross. I have tried numerous times to
weave in ends properly, but no methods have ever worked for me. I think it’s
because I shuttle tat, which leads to much tighter stitches than needle
tatting. I also typically use size 70 thread; larger thread seems to leave more
space for weaving in. Anyway, I can’t even get a needle to fit into one
half-stitch. I’ve tried careful planning to tat a chain over the thread ends,
which has worked, but then the thread ends pull out of the chain. Nothing works
for me. So, I keep going back to my tried-and-true method of tying a sturdy
square knot and clipping the ends close. I feel like a cheater, though, because
I know that every good tatter should weave in his or her loose ends. Am I a
failure?

Monday, August 6, 2012

Yet another cross bookmark, this one was really easy to make. I did not use
a pattern, but there are hundreds of similar crosses, including a pattern from “The Complete Book of Tatting” by Rebecca Jones. Here is
a picture of a cross made with that pattern by Iro Iro on her blog:http://iroiroknits.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-tatting.html.

Friday, August 3, 2012

This very popular adaptation of Mary Konior’s Black Magic pattern is
available on Georgia Seitz’s website. Silly me, I tried to make it one evening
while watching historic dramas, which can be very diverting. What a challenge!
The methods are simple enough, but I realized that I should have paid very,
very close attention to where to make joins and where to start each element. I
kept forgetting to make rings, and had to insert them at the wrong ends of the
chains. It still looks nice, though. I would definitely make it again, and it
would probably go much smoother next time.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The wild blueberries and huckleberries this summer aren’t as
abundant as they have been some years. Perhaps the extreme heat is affecting
them. We have just barely avoided drought in my little corner of New York. I
managed to find some berries to munch on while out hiking, and likewise some
inspiration for tatting.

I can’t remember where I found the picture from which I
worked this cross! I didn’t use a pattern; I made my own to look like the one
in the photo. It is somewhere on the Internet, so if any of my fellow tatters
recognize it, please let me know so I can give credit where it is due.

I struggled to name this cross, and was going to call it the
blueberry cross, which I thought was boring and inane but serviceable. I
considered a few names, including “Ariel,” but none seemed fitting. Then, I discovered
that the French word for blueberry is “airelle!” There you have it! Sometimes
things just come together.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Have any of my dear readers ever wondered about some of the
names that I give to my tatting? Many of them stem from books that I have read.
I love reading and have a degree in literature. Sometimes the nature of a
tatted item reminds me of literary characters, or sometimes the names are
simply from whatever book I am reading at the moment. This one is from “A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” by Mark Twain, because the bracelet
looks frivolous (haha, frivolous frivolité!), and Alisande is a bit ditzy.

I made these little flowers because I had several shuttles
containing short scraps of thread, and I wanted to use them up. I started
piecing the flowers together, and accidentally came up with this cute bracelet!
My Mommy thinks it’s adorable.